


Heart 2 Heart

by WolfieQuiffy



Category: One Direction, zayn malik - Fandom
Genre: Donating blood, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Nervous Zayn, Original Female Characters - Freeform, Phobia, Solicitor Liam, Tattoo Artist Zayn, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-13 22:20:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11769555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfieQuiffy/pseuds/WolfieQuiffy
Summary: Liam started looking around the mostly sparse waiting area, searching for an available seat, when his eyes landed on maybe one of the most breathtaking people he had ever had the fortune to see.Sitting on a seat on the very far right against the wall, was a young man staring off into space looking pensive, seemingly unaware of Liam's painfully obvious staring. Never one to miss an opportunity, Liam shamelessly used the strangers distraction to his advantage, as he took a good few seconds to catalogue his stunning features.Or the one where Liam decides to take a short lunch break from his job as a solicitor to give blood, but for a change he doesn't just get to give but receive in the form of Zayn Malik, a heavily tattooed and pierced young man, maybe not so keen on giving.





	Heart 2 Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. Recently I went looking for writing prompts because I was bored and lacking inspiration. When I saw this one - "Aren't you scared?", immediately an idea for a fic set in a blood bank popped into my head. Weird right? I hope it's ok. Enjoy! :)

 

 

“Hi! How can I help you? Sir?”

Liam waved his hand in the direction of the receptionist and then motioned towards his phone which was currently pressed firmly to his ear (a place it seemed to be permanently affixed lately, much to Liam's annoyance), “ _Steve_ I told you I had an appointment to give blood today over a week ago. Why are you acting like this is a new development?” He paused then, waiting impatiently for what he knew would be just another lame excuse from his associate as to why he'd messed up yet again. “Fine. Whatever. I haven't got time to hash this out now - just apologise to Mrs. Cartwright for the mix up, start the initial workings for the update of her will and let her know I'll be there as soon as a can. Ok? … Good. Now please don't ring me again unless it's an emergency!”

Liam ended the call as he directed an apologetic smile towards the blood banks very patient receptionist, adjusting his glasses in the process, “I'm so sorry about that. I honestly hate when people talk on their phones in situations like this and I really try not to myself, but there was a crisis at work,” Liam shrugged, pocketing his phone and offering up his patented puppy dogs eyes in hopes the young woman would be forgiving of his rude behaviour. 

She was of course, no one able to resist Liam Payne, solicitor at large, when he offered up that look, especially when combined with his natural charm. She smiled sweetly back at him, blushing slightly, before confirming his 12:30 appointment and asking him to take a seat.

Liam started looking around the mostly sparse waiting area, searching for an available seat, when his eyes landed on maybe one of the most breathtaking people he had ever had the fortune to see.

Sitting on a seat on the very far right against the wall, was a young man staring off into space looking pensive, seemingly unaware of Liam's painfully obvious staring. Never one to miss an opportunity, Liam shamelessly used the strangers distraction to his advantage, as he took a good few seconds to catalogue his stunning features. 

He had striking, almost jet black hair, likely styled so as to appear as if he'd just gotten out of bed and casually run his hands through it, when in reality it was probably laden with product and likely had taken him quite a while to achieve such an unkempt look. His hair beautifully framed a sharp yet somehow delicate jawline, covered in a light dusting of dark stubble which only served accentuate his plump, full lips - the colour of pink fairy floss. He possessed an almost perfect nose and had cheekbones for days.

He also had various facial piercings - Liam was no expert but he thinks there was a Septum and nostril piercing, two on either side of his bottom lip as well as stretched lobe earrings in both ears.  
And tattoos, a particular weekness for Liam, visible on his neck (from the quick look he got he'd say there was a small heart and a series of little birds) and each hand. Liam would hazard a guess that there were far more that _weren't_ visible - which excited him more than was appropriate for the setting they were in.

But what stood out the most to Liam, and really would have to anybody with the gift of sight, were his large, doe-like eyes - almost like the colour of autumn leaves, which were framed beautifully by impossibly long, luscious eyelashes. Liam suspected that if he was ever lucky enough to have the full attention of this handsome stranger, having those eyes trained on only you would feel like they were barring into your very soul.

“Excuse me. Mr. Payne?” a voice came from behind him, unceremoniously jolting him back to reality from his surely too long staring session. He turned to see the receptionist from earlier offering him a bottle of water, “Sorry I forgot to give this to you. You need to drink this before you give blood today.”

“Oh. Of course. Yes I'm sorry to. I should have remembered myself given the number of times I've done this,” Liam offered with a small chuckle as he took the bottle of water, “Thanks.”

When he turned back around to finally find a seat he was surprised to see the beautiful stranger now staring at him. Taken aback by these turn of events (and yes it did feel very exposing to have those gorgeous eyes directed at you) and not sure why someone so gorgeous would have even noticed him, he bashfully gave a small smile and nod of his head before self consciously sitting down. 

Once he had gotten comfortable, well as comfortable as one can get in a plastic waiting room chair, Liam couldn't help but chance another glance over towards the man in question - always a glutton for punishment. He was back to staring straight ahead again, looking even more nervous now as he fiddled with the label on his water bottle, probably by way of distraction. And Liam inexplicably found himself feeling concerned, a part of him wanting to ask if he was alright, but that was ridiculous wasn't it? He didn't know this man from Adam and as much as he found himself insanely attracted to him, it didn't change the fact any such enquiry from Liam would likely have been unwelcome. So he turned away abruptly, feeling slightly annoyed with himself. 

_Control yourself Liam_ , he thought. _Yes_ , it had been awhile since he'd gone on a date with work being so full on, but really this stranger was so not his type and Liam knew he was most definitely not his. With this realisation in mind he determinedly picked up some ancient looking magazine and tried to forget he'd ever laid eyes on ‘Mr Doe Eyes’.

Minutes later, the still of the waiting room was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice. “Zayn Malik?” a nurse called, as she walked out from an adjacent room. Liam instinctively looked up, surveying the other people around him, but no one seemed to be reacting. “Zayn Malik?” she said again, a little louder. This time someone did start to get up and to Liam's surprise it was _his_ stranger, slowly, almost reluctantly getting to his feet and walking over to the nurse. 

“Sorry,” he smiled apologetically, “I was in dreamland there for a second.”

The nurse gave him a reassuring smile as she directed him into what Liam assumed was an interview room. And then he was gone, Liam resigning himself to probably never seeing the stranger, Zayn, again.

 

*****

 

Thankfully Liam only had to wait for a few minutes before he too was called in for his pre-donation interview, mindful of the fact that Mrs Cartwright was more than likely waiting impatiently for him back at the office. Liam answered the nurses questions quickly, having heard them so many times before he could probably answer them in his sleep! Once all cleared to give blood, Liam was directed to lie down on a bed and as he waited for a nurse to attend to him, he decided to take advantage of his reclined position and shut his eyes briefly, just to take a moment to relax for once. Easier said than done unfortunately, as he soon found himself mulling over a way to get through all the work he needed to complete that day and still make it to his mum’s birthday dinner by eight o’clock.

“Mr. Payne?” 

Liam gingerly opened his eyes to see a older looking nurse smiling down at him. “You taking a power nap then, love?” she teased light-heartedly.

“Yeh. You caught me,” he joked. “No, I was actually just taking the chance to try to sort out my busy life is all.”

“Well the fact that you’re a busy man, makes it all the more wonderful that you're here to give blood,” the nurse, Betty according to her name tag, offered generously.

Liam ducked his head shyly in response to her kind words, never one to know how to take a compliment. “Thank-you. I'm always happy to donate regardless of how busy I am.”

“Well we better get on with it then, so you can get back to whatever it is that we're keeping you from, hey Mr Payne?”

“Liam. You can call me Liam if you …” Liam cut himself off mid-sentence, not intentionally (he'd never want to appear that rude), but he couldn't help it because walking towards him was the man that not fifteen minutes earlier he'd resigned himself to never seeing again. Zayn Malik, perfect human specimen, was heading in his direction, looking like he was close to losing his lunch, a nurse trailing behind him with a concerned look on her face. 

“You ok Liam?” Betty enquired kindly, breaking him out of his Zayn related trance.

“Hmm? … yeh sorry. I'm fine, just thought I saw someone I knew. I'm good to go whenever you are,” he explained, putting on a somewhat forced smile in hopes of concealing the real reason for his distraction. That reason continued to walk gingerly in Liam's direction and when he glanced to his right he was suddenly hit with a feeling of dread at the very real prospect that Zayn was coming to lie down on the empty bed next to him.

Liam couldn't control the thoughts that began to whirl about in his subconscious like a friggin tornado! _Shit. Please no. Don't be coming over here. Please not right next to me. I can't be this close to you for any length of time. Sporting a semi in a blood bank would be considered highly inappropriate wouldn't it?_

Much to Liam's chagrin, the blood bank gods appeared to not be listening to his frantic prayers, as the nurse that had been corralling Zayn, directed him to get on the bed in question. Liam was convinced he was fucked and that in all likelihood this was going to be the longest ten minutes of his life - but he quickly composed himself enough to give a curt little nod to Zayn, their eyes meeting briefly as he slowly settled himself on the bed. Thankfully (well for Liam anyway) Zayn seemed far too out of it to notice his impromptu little meltdown.

Liam was brought back to the situation at hand as he felt nurse Betty tap him on the arm,  
“Right arm alright by you love?” Liam nodded and quickly rolled his sleeve up, eyes wandering over to Zayn again, seemingly of their own volition. To his surprise Zayn appeared to be looking quite intently at the various tattoos etched on his forearm and Liam didn't know quite how to react. Was Zayn just admiring his tattoos because he was so obviously a fan of the art-form or was it more specially the fact they were on _Liam's_ arm? Not wanting to dwell on the ramifications of the second option for too long, he quickly looked away, determined to avoid any chance of embarrassing himself any further and to just get through this whole uncomfortable ordeal anyway he could. 

Fortunately, Betty worked her magic, hooking Liam up to the catheter in record time and before long he was lying back watching his blood drain into a bag as he methodically rolled a tube in his hand to keep the blood flow steady. He managed to avoid the temptation to peer over at Zayn again, although he heard his nurse say that she just needed to attend to another donor and would be back in a few minutes. Zayn's only response had been a squeaked out ok and then it was pretty much radio silence, apart from an occasional heavy sigh and a measure of nervous fidgeting. That was until …

“Aren't you scared?” questioned a small, timid voice out of the blue.

And Liam thought he knew who whose voice that was, in a thick northern accent, but he didn't want to get ahead of himself (or be overcome with nerves unnecessarily), so he subtly took a look to his right and sure enough Zayn was cautiously side eyeing him, still looking a little freaked out. “Sorry. Did you say something?” Liam responded carefully.

Zayn turned to look at him fully before repeating, “Yeh. Um … I said aren't you scared?”

“What? You mean to give blood?”

“Yeh. It's all a bit bizarre and surreal innit? Like watching them put a needle in you arm and then seeing all of this blood, _your_ blood being drained out of you?” Zayn explained, spitting out the word blood, like it actually pained him to say it.

“I .. I don't know. I guess I've never really thought about it tha …”

Just then a loud, exuberant lady came bounding over to Liam, prompting him to loose his train of thought. “Liam Payne. This is quite the honour, I've got to say,” she proclaimed loudly, causing not just Zayn, but most of the other blood donors within earshot to stare at them.

“An ... an honour? I'm sorry I'm not sure what you mean?”

“What? Don't tell me you don't know what number today's blood donation is Mr Payne?” she asked, with a somewhat surprised expression, eyes wide and eyebrows raised almost comically.

 _Oh god_ , Liam thought. He had forgotten. Shit. In all the kerfuffle of moving to London and starting at his new job, he'd totally forgotten the fuss everyone had made at his last donation back home in Wolverhampton, teasing him that it was donation number forty nine and that they would have to organise a big celebration for their favourite donor when he reached the big fifty!

“You've remembered now haven't you?” she nodded knowingly at Liam. “Fifty donations. It's such a tremendous achievement and especially given how young you still are.”

Liam could feel numerous sets of eyes trained in him as he self-consciously acknowledged the reason why, “Oh. Yes, thank you. I … I started giving blood as soon as I was old enough, so yeh, I suppose it's pretty good I've gotten to fifty at this age?”

“It certainly is. Oh goodness, where are my manners?” she paused as she held out her hand, which Liam awkwardly shook with his left, given that his right arm was currently occupied, “My name is Mary Jenkins. I’m the manager of The West End Blood Donor Centre and I always like to make a big fuss of my milestone donors, so I hope you don't mind being the centre of attention for a while?”

“Um .. no that's fine I guess,” Liam lied, because in reality he hated to have all eyes on him, unless of course he was doing something he was confident in, like singing karaoke or on the rare occasion when he got to argue a case in court.

“Good. And I have to thank Betty and Monica here for keeping quiet about this until I could come and surprise you,” the manager declared proudly, gesturing towards the nurse from earlier that had interviewed him. She had a pleased look on her face as she offered Liam a little smirk and he couldn't help but think _Yeh thanks Monica, a heads up might have been nice_. “Anyway, I promise I'll leave you be in a minute, but we'd just like to get a photo of you to put up on our ‘Wall of achievement’ and then there might be a little surprise waiting for you in the refreshment room after you have finished your donation.”

Liam politely made room for Betty, Monica and Mrs. Jenkins as they crowded around his bed for a few photos, the later of which positioning herself uncomfortably close, as she pressed herself against Liam's side, apparently not a big believer in respecting others personal space. Liam happened to catch sight of Zayn at one point peering over at the scene with a little smile on his face, clearly assumed by the situation and Liam was glad that his embarrassment had at least one positive - namely distracting Zayn, even if it was only temporarily. Their eyes met briefly, Zayn raising his eyebrows as if to say, _what can you do?_ Liam responding with a resigned shrug and a smile of his own. And Liam couldn't help the small thrill that he felt at getting to share a moment with Zayn, however fleeting.

“Ok, so now that the photos are all done, I'll leave you in the very capable hands of Betty to finish your donation, but don't worry I'll see you before you leave.” Mrs Jenkins assured as she patted Liam on the arm.

“Thanks. And, um, thanks for all this. It really wasn't necessary.”

“ _Nonsense_. Fifty donations is an achievement we will always celebrate here. So thanks to you, Liam.”

As Mrs Jenkins walked away, Betty gave him a sympathetic look, obviously used to the over the top dramatics of her manager. “Everything's coming along nicely love. You should be done in about 5 minutes or so. Oh and Mr. Malik,” she directed her attention to Zayn as she gave his arm a quick squeeze. “Your nurse, Sheila, will be back before you know it, so sit tight.”

Not long after Nurse Betty left, a few seconds of somewhat awkward silence was broken by another unexpected question. “You must think I'm a right tit?” Zayn asked quietly, head bowed as he fiddled with one of an assortments of rings on his fingers, “I mean here I am freaking out about giving blood and this is number fifty for you? You must have been donating for over ten years?”

And for once in his life, Liam was almost struck speechless in response to what Zayn had said. Truth be told, he was the one that felt like a tit - having a big fuss made over him was not his idea of a good time and he definitely didn't like the thought of Zayn feeling inferior to him in any way. Just because he'd given blood a few times (ok, more than a few) it still it didn't make him a better person. 

“I really don't think you're being a tit. I promise you. I'm actually feeling like a bit of a doughnut meself getting all this attention, trust me.” Liam paused, glancing down at his blood draining into the bag, “And I have my own reasons for giving blood all these years, so … you know if this is your first time, I'm not here to judge you mate, don't worry.”

“Like what?” Zayn challenged, for the first time today sounding confident as he fixed Liam with a stare (and Liam knew for sure now that he had been right in his assertion about having this stunning boys full attention - he felt exposed in a way that he never had, but also thrilled at the prospect of capturing Zayn's interest).

“Sorry?” Liam replied, not entirely sure what Zayn was getting at.

“You said you have your own reasons for donating for so long. Just wondering what they are? I mean, only if you're ok talking about it. You don't have to.” Zayn trailed off as he averted his eyes (those beautiful eyes) once again, his confidence seeming to be ebb away just as fast as it had appeared.

For some reason it pained Liam to see Zayn like that, probably because he suspected that in his own little world he was the type to not give a fuck about what any body thought of him. So against his better judgement Liam found himself contemplating opening up to this man - something he _really_ didn't like doing, especially to a virtual stranger. Because despite Zayn's somewhat intimidating appearance, Liam felt an ease with him and a level of trust that quite frankly would have seemed strange to anybody who knew him and his usual cautious nature.

“No - that's ok. I'm fine to talk about it,” Liam stuttered, maybe not as fine to talk about his past as he wanted Zayn to believe. “When I was born I had a lot of health issues and for a long time they didn't really know what was causing it, so I was in and out of hospital a lot. I mean, I was so little that I don't really have that many specific memories, but I just had this sense of what it was like for my family to see me unwell … just always worrying about me, you know?”

Zayn nodded, murmuring a quick “yeh” in agreement.

“Anyway to cut a long, _boring_ story short,” Liam joked, trying to lighten the mood as he glanced over to Zayn, pleased to see a small smile gracing his face. “It turned out that one of my kidneys just wasn't working, like at all. So I had to have about thirty injections morning and night from about the age of four, and I just remember one day when I was about six or seven, having this very serious conversation with me mum telling her that when I got older I wanted to do something to help other people like the doctors and nurses and my family had done for me.”

“So your mum suggested giving blood?”

“Yeh. She said ‘Well you're so used to needles love and you've had your blood taken plenty of times, so it would be like water of a duck’s back for you to give blood!’ And I don't know I guess what mum said always just stayed with me, all the way up til I turned seventeen. So while everyone else at school was trying for there drivers license, I was making an appointment to give blood,” Liam finished with a little giggle and a shrug.

“Wow. That's pretty bloody amazing bro. I think a lot of people might have thought the opposite, decided that they'd had their fill of places like this and would've never wanted to see a needle for a long as they lived,” Zayn offered generously.

“Well, I don't know about that,” Liam smiled, ducking his head trying to disguise the blush he could feel rising on his face, “I just thought it was the right think to do I suppose.”

“Well whatever your reasons, I'm impressed. Problem is your story has made me feel even more of a prick, because you're right this is my first time giving blood and …”

“I'll have no talk like that sweetie,” Zayn's nurse interrupted cheerfully, as she walked over towards them, offering Liam a wink, “All my donors are stars regardless of whether it's their first time or their fiftieth!”

“Oh. Thanks I guess. Although I don't feel like much of a star at the moment,” Zayn protested meekly.

“Well, let me put it this way Zayn. You and Mr. Fifty donations here are both going to donate about half a litre of blood today, which could potentially save three people's lives. So you see, you're both equally important and both stars in my book and I'm sure the fortunate people who end up receiving your blood would agree with me,” she finished with a pointed look towards Zayn, reminding Liam of an old music teacher of his from elementary school, Mrs. Hemple, who would always encourage him to believe in himself.

“Thanks. I .. I guess I never really thought of it like that,” Zayn mumbled, looking up through those impossibly long eyelashes. “Still doesn't change the fact that I'm shitting bricks here - oh sorry, excuse the french.”

“Oh sweetie. I've been around far too long to get get offended by a little swearing and this isn't the first time I've had to deal with a nervous first timer either. You could say I'm the ‘Newbie Whisperer’ around here, so you're in safe hands,” she finished with another wink and a reassuring nod towards Zayn. “I'll get you through this unscathed, trust me Zayn. My names Sheila by the way in case I didn't tell you earlier, so if I have to leave for any reason during your donation and you get worried about anything, just call out ok? Good - let's get this show on the road shall we?”

Zayn gave a small little nod and a smile, as his nurse got to work, placing a blood pressure cuff around his arm and starting a search for a vein, which actually wasn't as easy as it sounded given how many tattoos Zayn had. Meanwhile Zayn was back looking like he was about to throw up, as he watched Sheila's every move like a hawk, prompting a much needed response from his nurse.

“I tell you what sweetie why don't you continue the nice little chat you were having with Liam here, before I so rudely interrupted,” Sheila suggested ever so gently, giving Liam a not so subtle raise of her eyebrows as a signal for him to get on board with her cunning plan. “Keep your mind of what I'm doing hey?”

Liam happily took the bait, proceeding to pick up on their conversation from earlier without missing a beat. “So I told you why I decided to start giving blood. What's your story Zayn? It's ok if I call you Zayn isn't it?”

“Yeh that's ok _Leeyum_.” Zayn replied cheekily, turning his attention back to Liam, who really shouldn't have been so thrilled at the way his name sounded escaping Zayn's mouth, “Um … this is going to sound stupid, but it was a bet.”

“A bet? Ok. So I assuming it was a bet you lost?”

“Yeh. Thanks to bloody Louis Tomlinson!” Zayn exclaimed loudly, before catching himself, ducking his head and looking around bashfully.

“Louis?” And Liam couldn't help the way his voice went up an octave as he waited with baited breath, fingers crossed that this Louis guy was just a friend and not something more.

“My supposed best friend. And workmate - we work together, at Frith Street Tattoo. I don't know whether you've heard of it?” Zayn asked, eyes wide looking intently at Liam.

“Heard of it? Ah, of course I've heard of it!” Liam gushed. “I think anyone who has tattoos and lives in the UK has heard of Frith Street. Are you a tattoo artist there?”

Zayn ducked his head, a slight blush garnishing his cheeks. “Um.Yeh, Louis and I both are. That's were we met actually. He kinda took me under his wing when I first moved down here from Bradford. Great guy but always making these stupid bets with me, especially when he's blaggered, which seems to be a lot,” he finished with a cute little giggle, which Liam found impossibly endearing.

“So he was pissed when he bet you this time?”

“Well … no actually. Turns out for once he was sober as a church mouse. And that should have been my first clue not to take him up on the bet, but I might have been a little cocky and to be honest I couldn't say no when the wager on Louis’ end of the bet was him doing a nudie run at work!” Zayn laughed, his eyes crinkling from the force of it.

Liam soon joined Zayn in his laughter, partly because he himself had always found a good nudie run incredibly funny, but also because Zayn's laugh was so contagious, a look of pure joy on his face. It made Liam want to be the cause of this man’s laughter in the future, which, frankly, was a ridiculous thought given they known each other for less than ten minutes, but a thought nevertheless that he couldn't seem to help. 

Liam prompted Zayn to continue with his story, once he had his laughter somewhat under control, his interest now very much piqued, “So _your_ side of the bet was to give blood, even though you, and this Louis guy, knew you'd be scared witless?”

“Oh he knew alright the little shit. That's why he stacked the odds in his favour before he even said anything to me,” Zayn finished with a flourish of the arm that wasn't currently being prepared to give blood.

“All done, Zayn,” came the cheery voice of Zayn's nurse, Sheila, once again interrupting their conversation.

“What? Already?” Zayn responded, looking down at his arm with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

“Oh. No - not giving blood sweetie. Sorry. I just meant your all hooked up, bloods flowing pretty quickly so should only be about another five minutes or so and you'll have officially become a successful blood donor!” 

“Ok. Um great, yeh five minutes. I … I can do tha …” Zayn's speech trailed off, as he stared unblinking at the tube coming from his arm, appearing to be mesmerised by the flow of his blood into the collection bag.

Experienced nurse that she was, Sheila noticed Zayn starting to space out and quickly sprung into action, giving Zayn as gentle pat on his arm to bring his attention back to her. “Zayn love. You still with us sweetie?”

Zayn lifted his head and looked up at his nurse, slowly blinking his doe-like eyes a couple of times, before seeming to regain his focus. “Yes. Um, I'm sorry - I just caught sight of all the blood draining into the bag and I felt my eyes start to go all fussy.”

“No problem love, although you did have me worried there for a sec. It's good to know you're back with us now, but how about we don't tempt fate again ok? So best keep talking to your new friend here,” she paused to tap Liam's knee, “and whatever you do don't look down at your arm again.”

“Ok. Sounds good to me - I _really_ don't wanna feel like that again. Thanks. Sorry for bring such a wimp,” Zayn shrugged.

“No wimps here remember Zayn. Stars, only stars,” she replied, just as another donor’s machine started to beep, prompting her to start to move away. “And don't forget to keep rolling the tube in your hand, ok sweetie?”

Zayn looked over at Liam, raising his eyebrows and offering a hint of a smile, before conceding, “I think I was about a second away from fainting then. Bit scary actually.”

“Yeh, I can imagine. You feeling ok now?” Liam asked hesitantly.

“Yes, I think I'm all good as long as I don't look at me blood again. Um … you still interested in finding out how I ended up here?” 

Liam gave a small nod of his head, offering up a murmured yes, so Zayn picked up where he'd left the story earlier, “So anyway we were on our way to G-A-Y last Friday for a night out and Lou suddenly proposes this bet, which was who could get a guys number first.”

Zayn paused briefly, looking Liam directly in the eyes, almost as if he was issuing a silent challenge to him to show any hint of condemnation. Liam’s reaction was anything but, as he cocked an eyebrow and offered up a little smirk, prompting Zayn to offer a little grin of his own. It was most definitely a controlled response on Liam's behalf, because underneath his calm exterior, he was secretly doing mental cartwheels for joy at the thought that maybe he had a chance at wooing Zayn, now that he knew for sure, he was into guys too.

“And well, I don't want to brag, but pretty much every time we've been there in the past, I've had guys coming up to me offering to buy me drinks, asking me to dance and yes, offering me their numbers. Like almost before we've even made our way to the bar, so I figured even though I was scared out of me mind at the thought of giving blood, I thought I had it in the bag, ya know?”

“But you said your friend had already done something to ensure he'd win the bet?”

“Yeh, turns out the bastard had met a guy the weekend before and they'd been texting each other during the week organising to meet up that night. So like literally two minutes after we walk through the door this gorgeous guy, with the greenest eyes you've ever seen and dimples for days, comes waltzing up to us and takes Lou’s phone straight out of his pocket, casual as anything. And he looks right at me, grinning from ear to ear, and makes it obvious that he's typing in his phone number.”

“You're kidding? So he'd arranged for this guy to come up to him and give him his number before he'd even brought up the idea of the bet with you?” Liam asked, shocked that Zayn's friend could have that much cheek.

“Exactly. I couldn't believe it - I mean it was fucking sneaky, even for Lou, but what could I do? A bets a bet, I've never backed down on one before, I had to go through with it and so here I am doing something I swore I'd never do!” Zayn laughed, as he threw up his hands in apparent acceptance of his current predicament.

Liam let out a loud chuckle at Zayn's confession because as much as he felt for him, he also found the whole convoluted story about the bet highly amusing. A part of him also wanted to thank Louis for making the bet in the first place - Liam wasn't naive enough to think he would have had the opportunity to meet someone like Zayn under any other circumstance.

“So you think my suffering is funny then Leeyum?” Zayn teased, his tone one of mock seriousness.

Liam held up his hands in surrender, “I'm sorry. Really - it's just a bit of a funny story when you think about it, innit? I mean, minus the part where you're here now as you said ‘shitting bricks’. I think I'd probably like Louis if I met him.”

And Liam found himself immediately wanting to take back that last sentence, realising a beat too late that it could have easily been misconstrued by Zayn as him angling for an invite to their next night out. To his credit however, if Zayn did see it that way he didn't let on, merely offering a playful little smirk as he moved on to another subject. 

“Sooo .. I feel like I'm at a disadvantage here, I've told you about my job, my menace of a best friend and well kinda revealed more besides that, so what about you. What do you do for a quid? You mentioned moving down here for work?”

“Um … well I moved down to London about two months ago I suppose. I was a bit apprehensive about it at first. Lived in Wolverhampton all my life - twenty eight years, so it was a bit of a culture shock.” Liam admitted.

“I can relate, trust me bro. You can't get much more different than where I grew up in Bradford to Soho. One day I was eating at the local chippy, the next Louis was convincing me to try out the latest trendy sushi bar,” Zayn laughed, shaking his head as if he couldn't quite comprehend how his life had turned out.

“Well you seem like you've settled in now. I wish I could say the same. Works been so full on - and let me tell you going from a small local solicitors office back home to a pretty big firm in London is like night and day. And it doesn't help that the guy I've been working closely with is pretty bloody incompetent.” Liam paused then as he noticed Zayn looking at him quite intently, brows furrowed, “Oh sorry. I didn't say what I did, did I? I'm a solicitor. And I know you're probably going to ask, so no, it's not the same as being a lawyer - I don't go to court defending murderers or drug dealers or anything like that. It's mostly just run of the mill stuff, like preparing people's wills and drawing up contracts. Its actually pretty boring a lot of the time, not like your job.”

And Liam expected to at least get a smile out of Zayn with that last comment, because he meant it, working as a tattoo artist sounded ten times more interesting than his job. Unfortunately he was greeted with quite the opposite - Zayn looking far from amused, as his eyes narrowed, lips pressed together firmly and the fist that wasn't currently occupied with rolling the tube, clenched.

“I know the difference between a solicitor and a lawyer, thanks very much, _mate_ ,” Zayn spat out. “But thanks for the little lesson on the law anyway.”

And Liam was gobsmacked. He never meant to cause Zayn any offence (in fact it was the last thing he wanted). He'd just had so many people ask him over the years about the difference between the two branches of the law, that he automatically offered an explanation now, before he was even asked. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything or offend you. I ..” Liam let his sentence trail off, feeling slightly intimated as Zayn continued to eye him suspiciously, memories of the little boy that he used to be being bullied at school, coming flooding back.

“Yeh, well I might have lots of tatts and piercings, but that doesn't mean I'm some dolt,” Zayn responded defensively. “I did my A levels, got top marks in English. Could have gone to uni if I wanted to, but I decided it wasn't for me.”

Liam was the one who felt like a dolt now and he wanted desperately to clear up any misunderstanding. “I can tell you're not stupid Zayn. Really, I didn't mean to imply that I thought you were uneducated either. It's just that most people I come across assume being a solicitor and a lawyer are the same thing.” He turned towards Zayn as much as he could, given how his right arm was currently occupied, putting on his best pleading, puppy dog eyes. “I guess I've just got used to preempting that question when I talk about my work, to save any confusion. As I said, I really didn't mean to upset you.” 

Zayn still looked a little unconvinced of the sincerity of his words, although the expression on his face had softened some, as he started to trace the patterns of some of the tattoos on his arm. “Yeh, well most people that _I_ come across judge me because of how I look. And not just the tattoos but because of the colour of the skin underneath them, so … I'm sorry too. I can get a bit riled up about it and speak before I think. It's just happens way too much to me, you know?”

“Hey, believe it or not I hate people who judge a book by its cover too. People do it to me all the time when I'm not in a suit - they see my sleeve and the fact that I'm a little buff and obviously work out and assume I'm just some dumb jock,” Liam responded sympathetically, ducking his head to avoid Zayn's gaze before continuing. “And when I was at school some people just saw me as being the sick kid. Never took the time to look past that and decided that it would be easier to just treat me like shit and bully me. So I do get it Zayn. I truly do and I'd hate to think I made you feel the way they made me feel.”

“Oh shit bro. Now I feel like a complete twat. I'm really sorry too. You didn't deserve me going off on you like that. You've done nothing for me to think you'd treat someone that way. In fact you've been a really kind to me, helping to distract me from ‘the blood’ and all.” As he finished speaking, Zayn reached over and gave Liam's hand a squeeze and for a second he forgot how to breath, a burst of joy shooting through him like he was some pre-pubescent teenager with a crush!

Liam awkwardly gave a little squeeze back to Zayn's hand, juggling the tube that he had been rolling the whole time they had been speaking. “It's ok. I understand and I'm sure it doesn't help that you've probably been stressing out for a while about having to come here?”

“You're not wrong there,” Zayn conceded as he gave one final press to Liam's hand before withdrawing his own. “I don't think I got more than a few hours sleep last night - I was so fuckin’  
nervous.”

Just then an alarm sounded, signalling that Liam had reached the magic amount of half a litre of donated blood. Ordinarily Liam was super happy when his donation was complete, because it meant he could get back to his frequently busy life. This time however he was swamped with an unexpected feeling of disappointment - turns out, despite the little hiccup of their misunderstanding, Liam didn't want his time with this fascinating boy to end any time soon.

Liam looked up from where the machine was beeping intermittently, offering Zayn a shrug and a smile, “Well I guess that's me done then.”

“Yeh, time to find out what surprises they have in store for you in the refreshment area hey?” Zayn smiled.

“I sure hope it's something better than the usual fruit juice and day old biscuits,” Liam mused as he got bold enough to give Zayn a cheeky wink, which seemed to be appreciated given the broad smile he received in return.

“All done then love?” Betty enquired happily as she approached Liam's bed, “I'll just get you unhooked from all this and then you'll be able to go enjoy the fact you made it to the magic fifty with something yummy maybe?”

“Well I'm hoping so. I was just telling Zayn about the usual refreshments you get after a donation,” Liam laughed. “I mean I appreciate the fact that we get anything at all, but it would be nice to get a bit spoilt for my fiftieth.”

“I'm sure you won't be disappointed Liam,” Betty paused to carefully remove the needle from his arm and then pressed a cotton ball in its place. “Just hold that there for a moment sweetie, while I get a bandage for your arm.”

While Betty was preoccupied with the task of finalising Liam's donation, he turned his attention back to Zayn, asking timidly, “So I guess I'll probably see you back there when you're finished. If there _is_ cake or something I can save you a bit if you like?”

“Um .. ok that would be nice. I'm partial to a bit of cake. I've got a bit of a sweet tooth.”

“Great. Well I see you in a bit. And don't worry you're over the worst of it. It's easy after this - just remember to not look at the red stuff, ok?” Liam joked.

“Ok,” Zayn giggled, “I’ll keep that in mind. Not gonna lie though, it's going to be bit hard without your cute face to distract me, Leeyum.”

And as Liam's brain short circuited at the realisation that Zayn might be flirting with him, he was rendered momentarily speechless, only capable of responding to Zayn's cheeky reply with a giggle of his own, combined with a shy shrug. 

Thankfully Liam was saved from being completely embarrassed as Betty spoke up once more. “Ok Liam. You're all bandaged up. Don't forget to keep this on for a few hours and no strenuous activity with this arm until at least tomorrow morning. You think you can handle not working on those enviable muscles for a day love?” she teased.

Liam had only just started to recover from Zayn's comment and now Betty was teasing him about his muscles, all while Zayn looked on in obvious amusement. _Kill me now_ , Liam thought ruefully.

“I think I'll manage thanks Betty,” Liam confirmed quickly, looking for a way out of this mortifying situation as soon as possible. 

“Alright then love,” she laughed, giving Liam a conciliatory pat on his arm as he got up from the bed. “Don't worry, I leave you be for now. Enjoy the little celebration out there and maybe, considering I'm going to be tied up here a little longer, you could save me a little something as well?”

Liam could hear Betty laughing again as she headed over to one of the other donors and he belatedly realised she must have overheard him promising to save some cake for Zayn. He rolled his eyes, internally chided himself for becoming too comfortable while speaking to Zayn and forgetting that they weren't in fact alone, but surrounded by a room full of people.

Zayn cocked an eyebrow, before asking, “You ok there Liam?”

“Yes. I'm fine - just a bit embarrassed at all the fuss there making of me,” Liam partially lied. “I'll see you soon. Good luck.” 

Liam hurriedly walked away, not wanting to risk feeling even more discomfort by getting into a protracted conversation with Zayn. He turned back briefly, only to see Zayn giving him a cute little left-handed wave, which he awkwardly returned. 

 

*****

 

“On behalf of The West End Blood Donor Centre I'd like to express our sincerest congratulations to Liam Payne on completing his fiftieth blood donation today,” the enthusiastic manager, Mrs Jenkins, extolled to the little group of workers and donors that had gathered around Liam in the refreshment room. 

“And in honour of that tremendous achievement, especially at such a young age, we have a scrumptious cake to present to you, kindly donated by The Cake Place,” she paused waving over the young receptionist from earlier, signalling to her to place the cake down on the coffee table in front of Liam, before producing a piece of paper from behind her back, “as well as this Certificate of Appreciation, which we hope you'll frame and proudly display for everyone to see!”

Liam ducked his head, feeling his face start to flush as everyone burst into a round of applause. He glanced down at his cake, noting a dedication written on it in white chocolate - ‘Congratulations Liam Payne - 50 Blood Donations’ and then at the certificate. He was immeasurably embarrassed with all this attention, but he also felt a sense of pride that a discussion he'd had with his Mum all those years ago about giving back, had resulted in this achievement.

“Um .. thanks so much everyone. This really wasn't necessary, but I'll take it anyway,” Liam shared hesitantly, “And this cake looks delicious - I can't wait to try it.”

“I'll do the honours shall I?” Mrs Jenkins offered, as she drew the cake towards her and began to cut it into slices.

Meanwhile Liam found himself looking anxiously towards the doorway wondering how Zayn was fairing in the other room. Mrs. Jenkins must have noticed his distraction as she asked, “Penny for your thoughts, Liam?”

“Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking about how one of the other donors was getting on. Um, you probably don't know him. Zayn Ma …”

And Liam was cut off mid sentence, as recognition registered on the manager face, “Mr Malik? Oh yes I know who you're talking about. I think everyone working today does, actually.”

Liam cocked an eyebrow disbelievingly, surprised that someone as high up as a manager would be aware of any of the donors (well apart from Liam, obviously) and particularly because Zayn pretty much seemed like the model patient to him, even allowing for the fact that he was so scared to give blood.

As if sensing Liam's surprise, Mrs Jenkins continued, “Oh, I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm sure he's lovely under normal circumstances, but when you have as big a fear as he has to blood, well it's not surprising how much time and effort it took for the nurses to get him to actually get onto a donation bed.”

“But he seemed fine when he was in the donation room? He was talking to me quite happily and he only really had one bad moment when he looked down for a second at the collection bag,” Liam replied, confused by what Mrs Jenkins had revealed about Zayn.

“Well I'm no expert on these things, but I have a feeling the only reason he was relatively calm while he was actually making his donation was because you did such an excellent job of distracting him,” she opined.

“Me? Really?” Liam asked incredulously.

“Yes Liam, I think so. Maybe we'll have to get you to pass on your secrets to Sheila for the next time she gets a nervous donor, hey?” she teased. “Anyway I best get on, lots still to do today and I've probably said too much already. Thank you again and hopefully we'll see you in around twelve weeks time?”

“No worries, it's my pleasure. And thanks for all this. It was very nice of you to do.”

“Your welcome Liam,” Mrs Jenkins replied, as she gave Liam a firm handshake, before starting towards the doorway, “Oh, speak of the devil. I think the man of the hour is coming in now.”

Liam looked up so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash, and sure enough he was greeted with the welcomed sight of Zayn coming into the room, Sheila trailing closely behind him. Zayn gave Liam a faint smile and when he spotted the somewhat worried look on Sheila’s face, he started to feel concerned. So concerned in fact, that before he even knew what he was doing, he had gotten to his feet and started walking over to them. 

“Everything ok?” Liam blurted, failing miserably to conceal his worry.

“Oh, yes love. Nothing to worry about here. Zayn was just a little wobbly when he first got up is all. He’ll be fine once he's had a little rest and a bite to eat.” Sheila looked over to Zayn, “Won't you sweetie?”

Zayn gave an almost imperceptible nod, but the grimace he was sporting told Liam he wasn't entirely convinced by Sheila's words. 

She turned her attention back to Liam, asking, “I hate to do this, but do you think you'd be able to keep on eye on this one for me Liam? It's just that we're a little short staffed today and I need to get back in there. Unless you're in a hurry to get back to work, of course?”

Liam glanced down at his watch -1:05 pm. He'd been gone from the office for nearly an hour and it had been over thirty minutes since he'd received Steve’s panicked phone call about Mrs Cartwright. He really shouldn't delay his return to work, even for the ten or fifteen minutes it would take to stay with Zayn, but one look at Zayn's distressed face was all it took to convince him otherwise.

“Um, yeh that should be ok. I think they can manage without me for a few more minutes,” he replied jovially.

“Perfect! And just give me a yell if you or Zayn need me, ok? And Zayn ..” She made sure she had Zayn's full attention before continuing, “don't forget what I said. You have to stay sitting here for fifteen minutes minimum ok. That's non-negotiable. And make sure to have something to eat and drink.”

Zayn ducked his head shyly, fiddling with his rings once again, looking like a chastised school boy, “Ok. Thanks for all your help. I know I haven't been the easiest person to deal with. Sorry.” 

“No apologies necessary love. It was very admirable of you to come in today knowing how you react to the sight of blood. I'm proud of you. Now sit down and do as your told!” she mockingly chastised, before making her way back to the donation room.

“Here let me help you Zayn,” Liam offered, moving to Zayn's side in an instance.

“I'm not an invalid Leeyum. I think I can manage to sit down on my own.” Zayn protested.

“I know. Just let me anyway. Makes me feel useful. And besides I don't know about you but I don't want to risk the wrath of Sheila,” he jested, taking hold of Zayn's left arm and gentling him down into the chair. “I mean she might seem like a sweet old lady, but I get the feeling she can also be pretty tough when she wants to be.”

Zayn just shook his head fondly, thankfully giving up on any further objection as he let Liam help him sit down. When Liam sat down again himself and looked over at Zayn he could have sworn he saw a slight blush on Zayn's cheeks, but he put it down to how poorly Zayn was feeling, rather than any effect Liam's concern might have had on him (thinking otherwise just served to addle Liam's brain and he couldn't afford for that to happen when he'd been given the responsibility of watching over Zayn).

“You know what, it's really not all that uncommon to feel a bit out of it after giving blood, especially when it's your first time,” Liam tried to reassure Zayn, although the frown he was sporting indicated his words probably weren't having the desired affect. “It happened to me the first time. Stood up too quickly and felt like I was going to keel over. And then when I'd gotten over that, they tried to get me the eat something and it just made me feel like I was going to be sick. So I'm not talking out my arse here, I know what you're going through, Zayn.”

“Yeh, well I guess I'll have to take your word for it,” Zayn admitted reluctantly, before giving him a little half-smile and gesturing towards the Liam's cake. “So did you save me a piece like you promised?”

“What do you think?” Liam replied cheekily. “Of course I did! And even better I think it's red velvet. Although I've got to say, as much as I like it, I'm kinda disappointed they went for the cliche of getting a red coloured cake for a blood bank celebration.”

Liam tried to hold himself together for as long as he could, face serious, but he lasted all of a few seconds before he burst into a fit of giggles, far too amused at his own attempted humour. Zayn only response was an exaggerated sigh, although Liam would have sworn he detected a little muffled laughter as well. 

“You're a doughnut sometimes, you know that Liam?” Zayn deadpanned. “And I will have no derogatory comments directed towards red velvet cake because it happens to be my favourite, so gimme.”

Liam handed over a slice of cake to Zayn as requested, before picking up his own slice and taking a bite. “You know I'm not gonna lie, this does taste bloody delicious, but I'm afraid in terms of appearance it doesn't hold a candle to the Batman cake I had for my 28th Birthday. Now that was a cake!” Liam boasted, waving the piece of cake around carelessly as he did, causing crumbs to rain down all over his expensive business suit. As he tried in vain to brush of all the little bits of cake, an unwelcome thought suddenly occurred to him, causing him to pause and slowly look up at Zayn. Liam found himself desperately searching his face for any sign that what he'd just said about a grown arse man having a batman cake wouldn't be a turn off for Zayn, but his face was expressionless, giving Liam nothing.

 _Shit_ , he thought. _Now you've gone and done it Payno_. In his excitement to share his red velvet cake with Zayn, he'd inadvertently revealed his inner nerd to this incredibly hot, incredibly cool lad and in the process, probably blown the small chance that whatever this thing was that seemed to be blossoming between them, could go any further.

“A Batman birthday cake hey?” Zayn questioned, finally offering Liam something by subtly cocking an eyebrow.

“Um, yeh,” Liam paused, silently having a war within himself. His nerdy, true self urging him to just go ahead and reveal everything (even his Harry Potter obsession). His suit wearing, cautious self yelling at him to keep quiet and not admit to anything else!

Nerd Liam won out, as he figured if Zayn was ever going to want to see him again, his interest in superheroes, comics and all things Harry Potter was bound to come out eventually anyway. So Liam finally answered Zayn's question, declaring proudly “It was just Batman’s head, but it looked so good. It's actually a bit of a thing for me. Every year my friends or my family organise some sort of superhero or Harry Potter cake for me birthday.”

Zayn titled his head, bringing his hand up to stroke absent-mindedly at his beard, before querying quietly, “So is it just a bit of a jokey thing then? People do it for your birthday to have a laugh?”

“No. Well my friends think it's kinda hilarious to be honest. Love nothing more than to take the piss out of me whenever they get the chance. But no, I'm dead serious about it - I love it.” Liam ducked his head avoiding the glare of Zayn's piercing eyes, still not fully convinced it was a good idea to be telling him this, “I'm into all that stuff - superheroes, comic books. Um .. bit of a Harry Potter tragic as well.”

“Really? You like all that stuff too?”

And at first all Liam heard was the disbelief in Zayn's voice, until ..

“Too?” Liam blurted.

“Yes Liam, _too_. I'm into all that stuff as well. Proper nerd I am. And proud of it too. I don't give a shit if people think it's weird or immature. It's always been a thing for me as long as I can remember,” Zayn stated confidently.

“Wow. That's brilliant. I hardly ever meet anyone who's as much of a nerd as me. Although, I suspect if we had a competition to see who was the biggest nerd I'd win out!” Liam postulated, face splitting into a cheeky grin, unable to conceal his absolute joy at discovering Zayn's similar nerd tendencies.

“Oh and what makes you so sure about that, mate? I bet you haven't got as many comics as me or any first editions?” Zayn teased back.

“Well, ok. You've probably got me there. _But_ have you got any genuine Harry Potter memorabilia? Like say a sign from Hogwarts?” Liam countered.

Zayn let out a hearty laugh in response and it only confirmed his previous thought about how much he loved the sound of it. “Ok. Ok. I give up, you're definitely the biggest nerd, Leeyum. Looks like congratulations are in order for a _second_ time today.”

“Cheers. I'm just happy to find out that both of us loving tattoos isn't the only thing we have in common to be honest,” Liam admitted, picking up his piece of cake again and raising it up in the air, as if proposing a toast.

“Oh. That reminds me. I was going to ask you about your tattoo sleeve? You mentioned it earlier?”

“What did you want to know? I mean I could just take my clothes of here and show you ..” Liam teased, putting the piece of cake down and jokingly loosening his tie and pretending to take off his jacket, prompting Zayn to reach over and pull the lapel back up, stopping him in his tracks.

“ _Liam_ ,” Zayn yelped, a glorious smirk gracing his beautiful face. “Don't even joke about that - Unless you want me to become the first person ever to be thrown out of a blood bank for inappropriate behaviour?” 

“Inappropriate behaviour hey? And what might that look like Zayn?” Liam challenged, feeling incredibly bold, armed with the welcomed knowledge that Zayn found the thought of him striping down enticing.

“I'm sure you can use your imagination babe,” Zayn teased back, waggling his eyebrows, his tongue pressed to the back of his teeth as he gave a sly little smirk.

And for the second time today (well probably the hundredth, but who was counting?) Liam was overwhelmed by Zayn, as he came to grips with the fact that he just called him ‘babe’. So overwhelmed, that he found he had no words with which to reply to Zayn's comment, his only response being to stick his tongue out like a six year old.

“Ok. Enough of the banter, before we both get in trouble. And besides I'm still waiting to hear about your tattoos,” Zayn pointed out.

“Sorry. Um yeh, so I pretty much have a full sleeve on my left arm. I've got my families crest on my upper arm, which has a lion on it and also kinda looks like the Gryffindor symbol which makes it doubly great. And then down here,” Liam pointed to his foreman, “there's a skull, an eye and like this really interesting design with a broken clock face.”

“Damm. Now I wish I hadn't asked, cause I really want to see them now,” Zayn finished with a pout. “Are you planning any more? Maybe complete the sleeve on the other arm? The ones I saw earlier looked pretty sick, I've got to say.”

“Well I've actually been wanting to get something done on the back of both of my hands for months,” Liam ran a finger over his hand longingly as he spoke, “But me mum convinced me to wait until after I'd gone for this job. But I guess there's nothing stopping me now. Well apart from never having a bloody minute to spare and not wanting to give any of the partners a heart attack.” 

“Um .. I could do it,” Zayn suggested hesitantly. “I mean, if you wanted. I know you've never seen any of my work, but I think I've done some pretty good stuff recently. At least that's what Lou tells me.”

“You'd really do that for me? Like you'd do it at Frith Street? Wow Zayn that would be fucking incredible!” Liam jabbered excitedly.

“Yeh? We could maybe get together sometime and go through some designs? Come up with something really original but ya know nothing too over the top to save the partners health of course,” Zayn joked.

“Oh. Of course,” Liam laughed. “Although there's a little part of me that really doesn't give a flying fuck what the partners would think about it. So maybe we wouldn't have to play it _too_ safe.”

Liam smiled over at Zayn, and he knew by how broad he could feel his smile was, that it was probably dead obvious how enamoured he was, but he was just so happy in that moment that he honestly didn't care anymore. He was sick of playing it safe. Of not taking risks with his love life and Zayn Malik was certainly someone worth taking a risk or two over. 

“So do you want to set something up?” Liam asked confidently. “Maybe we could go out for a coffee or something?”

Zayn ducked his head, before replying, “Yeh. Um .. that sounds good. There's a little caff just down the street from my work, Cafe Nero? Don't know if you've heard of it, but it's great. Maybe we could go tomor ..”

Just then Zayn's phone rang interrupting their conversation and Liam couldn't help feel a little anxious, as he really wanted to set their coffee date (date? Liam wasn't sure if that was jumping the gun?) in stone before Zayn had the chance to change his mind.

“Lou. Calm down bro. I can't understand a word you're saying.” Zayn looked over at Liam, offering a little frown and shrug of his shoulders, “Ok so you're telling me Pete Shaw is there already? Shit. I knew he'd show up early, the prick. I told you he had it in for me Louis - he's trying to show me up in front of the big boss, I bet.”

Zayn paused, pulling his phone away from his ear with a grimace and Liam wasn't surprised as he could clearly hear Louis ranting from where he was sitting. “Lou! Stop fucking yelling at me. It's not helping. Look just tell him that I'll be there in ten minutes ok?” Zayn paused as Louis said something else. “I don't know babe. Just offer to get him a cup of tea or summut. Use your imagination. Just keep him occupied and I'll be there as soon as I can. Ok thanks Lou. I owe you one.”

Zayn hung up and looked over at Liam. “Well I'm sure you've guessed from that phone call that Louis is having a meltdown back at work cause me next client has turned up early. So I'm sorry but we're going to have to cut this short so I can go and calm him down. But I meant what I said - I'd loved to do some tatts for you bro.”

And Liam went into protective mode, realising immediately that Zayn leaving early wasn't a good idea. “I know, I'm not worried about that, but I am concerned that you think it's a good idea to leave already when it's hasn't even been ten minutes since you've been sat here,” Liam babbled, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

“Leeyum. I'm feel fine, honestly. I'm sure it'd be ok to leave a bit early,” Zayn reassured.

“Look, I hate to bring out the ‘Mr Fifty Donations’ card Zayn, but I've been doing this a hell of a lot longer than you and trust me, if you felt poorly after your donation you really need to give it at least fifteen minutes, just like Sheila said.”

Zayn looked over at Liam with an eyebrow cocked, appearing to be unconvinced by Liam's words. “Oh my god Liam, you sound like me fuckin’ mum. Trust me. I don't feel foggy like I did before, see …” and with that Zayn stood up abruptly, trying to prove his point, but failing miserably as his legs started to buckle underneath him and his eyes glazed over. 

Liam recognised the signs that Zayn was about to faint immediately. And just like one of the Superheroes he admired so much, he sprang into action, somehow getting to Zayn just before he hit the floor, cradling him in his arms. 

After what felt like an agonisingly long time, in which one of other donors that had also been in the refreshment room went to get help and Liam found a cushion to put under Zayn's head, the man in question slowly started to open his eyes, long eyelashes fluttering delicately against his cheeks. Liam looked down at Zayn, anxiously waiting for a small glimmer of recognition to register in his eyes, in the process belatedly realising that he hadn't truly done justice to their beauty. Given the opportunity to study them for more than a few seconds, he became aware of the little flecks of gold that were interspersed amongst the swirls of greens and browns, as well as the small freckle visible in the corner of his left eye.

“Hey sleepy head. You had me worried there for a minute. Started to think I might not get to see those beautiful eyes again,” Liam said carefully, not wanting to alarm Zayn too much, as he caressed his face gently.

“Hey,” Zayn murmured, blinking his eyes rapidly a few times until they regained their focus. “What happened? Why am I lying on the floor?”

“You fainted. _After_ , I might add, you tried to prove to me that you'd weren't in any danger of fainting,” Liam jested in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Crap,” Zayn sighed, as he lifted a hand up to cover his eyes before parting his fingers slightly and peeking out. “I was being a smart arse wasn't I? Getting up too quickly, even though you told me not to. I'm sorry Liam. I mean I know we're both into superheroes but believe me I had no desire become your damsel in distress today.”

And despite the fact this was a potentially serious situation, both boys burst into laughter at what Zayn had said, the irony not being lost on either of them.

“You doughnut,” Liam mused, grabbing Zayn's hand and giving it a squeeze. “I'm the one whose supposed to be comforting you and instead you're making jokes. Your a bloody menace you know Zayn Malik. Don't know what I'm going to do with you?”

“Um .. maybe take me out for that coffee tomorrow, like you promised?” 

“Ok. I guess … hang on. I made no such promise. You're trying to take advantage of my distressed state and trick me into a date aren't you?”

“Maybe? Is it working Leeyum?”

Unfortunately Liam missed his opportunity to respond to Zayn's cheeky comment, as Sheila came striding into the room. “If you two are quite finished flirting, I'll take a look at the patient shall I?” Sheila chastised, fixing both with a half serious glare.

“Oh. Sorry. I'll get out of your way,” Liam stuttered, getting up to give Zayn and Sheila some space.

As Sheila tended to Zayn, checking his pulse and taking his blood pressure, Liam took a seat close by, determined to keep a watchful eye on them. He soon found himself unconsciously jiggling his leg, a nervous habit he had since childhood, as he waited anxiously to find out if Zayn was alright. And just like before, when he had been waiting impatiently for him to finish his donation, Liam didn't quite know why he was experiencing such strong feelings, so quickly.

“Ok sweetie. Well your pulse is fine and even though your blood pressure is a little low, I think we're ok to get you sitting up again.” Sheila motioned for Liam to come over to them, “Liam can you get on the other side of Zayn for me and we'll get him to sit back in his seat.”

Once he was upright again Zayn gave a sheepish look to both Liam and Sheila, shoulders slumped, sporting a little frown. “I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have tried to get up before the fifteen minutes were up. I feel like an idiot. I promise I won't try to leave again until you give me the ok Sheila,” Zayn assured.

“Oh don't you worry Zayn, I'll be keeping a very close eye on you and you won't be leaving unless you are deemed fit to do so!” Sheila lectured, pointed her finger at Zayn and fixing him with a stern look.

As Zayn nodded meekly in response, Sheila advised them that she would be back in a minute, once she got some sweets for Zayn, which apparently would help to raise his blood pressure.

“Im going to kill Louis,” Zayn gritted out, once Sheila was out of earshot.

“Louis? Oh … your friend Louis,” Liam questioned, before correcting himself, temporarily forgetting some of the details of their conversations from today, his brain still a bit muddled due to his concern for Zayn.

“Friend? Yeh doesn't feel like much of a friend at the moment,” Zayn grumbled, annoyance clear in his voice.

“Oh come on Zayn. I'm sure if he'd known you were going to have this hard of a time in giving blood, he wouldn't have made you go through with the bet,” Liam bargained, willing to give Zayn's friend the benefit of the doubt, even though he didn't know him from a bar of soap.

“Bro. Trust me - if he'd known it was going to be this much of a shit show he probably would have made sure he'd come with me, brought a fucking bucket of popcorn and sat there the whole time laughing his arse off!”

“Really?”

“Yeh, like I said earlier, he can be a bit of a prick sometimes. But what can I say, I still love him, cause underneath it all he'd do anything for me if I asked, ya know?” Zayn conceded, his fondness for his friend showing through. 

“Yeh. My two best friends are like that. Love nothing more to tease the shit out of me, but they've been there for me when no one else has,” Liam shrugged.

“Ok,” Sheila's now familiar voice interrupted them once again. “I did a bit of a reckie of the office and managed to find some gummy bears, although I've got to warn you there doesn't seem to be many red ones left in this packet, so I hope they aren't you favourite?”

“Well they are actually, but I guess I can make do just this once,” Zayn joked, managing to sport a small smile, which helped put Liam's mind at ease, just a little.

“Glad to hear it sweetie. Now I want you to sit there quietly for at least another five minutes, eating your gummy bears and ..” she handed over a can of coke, “sipping on this slowly. And no cheating, because I'll be getting Liam here to report back to me.”

As Sheila walked away Liam could hear her laughing to herself and he couldn't help but think him and particularly Zayn, must have caused a lot of amusement for the the blood bank staff today. He looked over to Zayn, taking a minute to just observe him and sure enough he was meticulously picking out the red gummy bears to eat first.

“You do know that if you only eat the red ones you won't get enough sugar into you?” Liam asked, unable to hold back a teasing smile.

“Ha, Ha. Very funny Liam. I'll eat some of the other ones too, don't worry,” he chided. “So you're just going to sit there watching me the whole time?”

“Well I've got to report back to Sheila don't I? So yes, I guess I'll just have to take one for the team and sit here for the next five minutes looking at your ugly mug.” Liam laughed, attempting a wink as well but probably not succeeding, if the way Zayn rolled his eyes at him was any indication.

“Any one ever tell you you're cute when you lie, Leeyum?” Zayn smirked.

And _ok we're back to flirting again are we?_ , Liam pondered, but he didn't dwell on that thought for too long, knowing that if he overthought whatever this whole thing, he'd likely blow it by getting nervous. Best just to keep doing what he'd been doing the whole time, because somehow it seemed to be working.

“Any one ever tell _you_ you're not so cute when you talk with a mouthful of red gummy bears! I mean I hate to say it, given your aversion to the red stuff, but you kinda looks like a vampire that's just been sucking on someone.” 

Zayn burst into a fit of the giggles as soon as Liam finished speaking, and at first Liam wondered what he'd said that was so funny. Until …

“Really Zayn?” Liam jokingly questioned. “Get your mind out of the gutter mate - I meant sucking on a neck obviously, _not_ somewhere else!”

“Hey you're the one who said it bro,” Zayn said, holding his hands up in defence.

“I stand by my previous statement that you're a menace, Zayn.” Liam reached over to give Zayn's can a little shake, “And you need to drink some more of that, but remember what Sheila said - just little sips.”

“Yes, your honour,” Zayn saluted, still laughing a little.

Liam just shook his head exasperatedly, deciding changing the subject might be the best course of action. “Anyway - speaking of your fear, I meant to ask you earlier. It's a bit weird, don't you think, that a tattoo artist would be scared of giving blood? Like you must be used to needles and I know from experience people can bleed a little when they're getting tattooed?”

“It is a bit ironic innit? If any any my clients found out I'm sure they'd be a bit worried.” He paused to take a sip of his drink as instructed, giving a sly little nod of his head to Liam in the process. “Funnily enough I'm kinda ok with a little bit of blood and especially if it's someone else's. And yeh needles I'm fine with too, but I see a whole lot of me own blood and I'm a goner.”

“And your friend knew all this?” Zayn nodded again in response. “ _Nice_. You feeling better?”

“That's what I'd like to know,” Sheila interjected, walking purposely back into the room.

“Um … I think so. I haven't got that wussy feeling in my head anymore. And the room stopped spinning a while ago,” Zayn told them.

“Ok let's just check your vitals again and we'll make a decision on what to do after that.”

Sheila quickly went about her work, Zayn looking on intently, biting at his lip nervously. Liam caught his eye briefly, smiling and giving him a double thumbs up in an attempt to ease his worry. It seemed to work as Zayn smiled back at him and mouthed a ‘thank you’.

“Well then,” Sheila said as you packed away the blood pressure kit. “Your blood pressure is still a tiny bit lower than I'd like, but everything else is in a normal range. I think we might try getting you up on your feet and see if your up to walking unassisted.”

Liam and Sheila took one arm each supporting Zayn as he gingerly stood up. Once he appeared to be steady, Sheila signalled for Liam to let go as she did the same. “Alright sweetie, try taking a couple of steps for me and don't worry Liam and I will be right here to catch you if you feel a bit wobbly.”

Zayn looked up at Liam through his lashes, eyes wide. Liam nodded his encouragement and he carefully took a small step forward. He followed it with another and things seemed to be going ok before all of a sudden Zayn began to sway a little. Sheila stepped in straight away, grabbing his arm and quietly directing him to sit down again, before sitting down herself on the table in front on Zayn, looking thoughtful.

“Mmm. I think we have ourselves a problem boys,” she mused. “I'm confident that you're fine to leave Zayn _but_ not in your own. What we just did was a little test and I'm afraid you failed love. I can't in all good conscience let you walk out of here unless you have someone with you. And by that I mean someone walking with you all the way back to wherever you're going.”

“Oh,” Zayn sighed. “I …I guess I could give my friend Lou a ring. He's at work, but he'd could probably get someone to cover for him. Just might take him a little while to organise is all - so as long as you don't mind putting up with me for a little longer?” 

“I think we could handle looking at your lovely face for a bit longer sweetie. Might even be able to scrounge up some lunch for you. What do you li …”

“What about your client?” Liam blurted out, surprising both Zayn and Sheila. “Wasn't that the whole reason you were in so much of hurry to leave in the first place?”

“Well I suppose I'll have to try to reschedule his appointment.” Zayn hesitated for a second, bowing his head before continuing on quietly, “If he doesn't want to there's nothing much I can do about it.”

“I can but.” 

Zayn's head snapped up so quickly Liam could have sworn he felt a breeze on his face. “You? How?” 

“I can take you back to work. That way Louis won't have to go to the fuss of organising cover for himself and you won't miss your appointment. It's win, win for everyone,” Liam declared proudly.

“Except for you Liam. You're a solicitor, I know how busy your job must be. I can't let you miss out on any more work time just to play nursemaid to me,” Zayn countered sternly.

“It wouldn't take that long.” 

“ _Really_ Liam? Where do you work then?”

“Um … Fletcher Day? You probably don't know it. It's near Regent St, just down from the London Palladium?” Liam hurriedly got out, hoping Zayn wouldn't realise how far away his work was from Zayn's.

“So you're saying you'd be willing to walk me all the way back to to Frith Street, when your work is pretty much in the complete opposite direction?” Zayn asked disbelievingly. “Even though instead of like taking ten minutes, you'd be looking at over half an hour. I can't let you do that.”

Liam stepped forward, feeling bold as he grabbed Zayn's hand. “You're not babe - I want to. And besides, if I didn't I'd just spend the rest of the day worrying about you anyway. Please, let me do this for you, ok?”

Zayn took a moment to stare intently at where Liam had a hold of his hand, subtly moving his thumb over Liam's knuckles. He then looked back and forth a couple of times between Sheila and Liam, as if an answer to his dilemma had somehow been magically tattooed on one of their foreheads in the last minute, before mumbling, “Um … alright. But only if you let me do one of those tattoos we were talking about for free.”

“You won't get any argument from me on that - I can imagine how much Frith Street charges for tattoos! And besides now I'll get to check the place out first. Have a bit of a look around.” Liam smiled.

“So now that's all sorted I'll leave you two to it,” Sheila said, looking relieved as she stood up. “Look after yourself sweetie and if you start to feel unwell again, you can give us a bell or if we're closed go see your doctor or to the nearest A & E, ok?”

“I will. Thank you so much for all your help.”

“My pleasure Zayn. Maybe you'll pop back for a visit sometime? Could always tag along with this one you know, if you're not up to giving blood again yourself?” she teased, giving Liam's arm a motherly squeeze in the process.

Zayn and Liam both offered up nervous little laughs in response to Sheila's suggestion, neither, Liam suspected, wanting to delve into the implications of her words. “So you ready to do this then?” Liam asked, tightening his grip on Zayn's hand as he helped him to his feet again.

“As much as I'll ever be I guess. I don't think I'm going to be able to walk to quickly though. Sorry.”

“No worries,” Liam replied cheerfully, cautiously inching his hand around Zayn's waist (and the little thrill that ran through him when he realised how perfectly his rather large hand fit around Zayn's tiny waist couldn't possibly be overstated). “This ok? Just don't want to risk you stumbling or anything?”

“Yeh. It's … yeh, feels good,” Zayn admitted shyly, a blush rising on his cheeks, as he returned the favour, snaking his arm around Liam's waist too.

They slowly made their way out of the blood bank, Liam very much aware of the knowing smiles and whispered conversations they were attracting. He looked over at Zayn and they exchanged those same smiles themselves, before Zayn's turned into something more akin to a smirk.

“So about that coffee date tomorrow Leeyum - your shout or mine?” he winked.

Liam let out a hearty laugh in response, completely disbelieving that this was his current reality - walking arm in arm with this gorgeous, fascinating and undoubtedly good man. 

That he'd walked into this blood bank just over an hour ago to make a donation which may end up saving three lives. 

That he may just have saved his life too.

 

~ The End ~

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Feedback and comments are always welcomed! Thanks :)


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